“It was a total disaster,” George said after MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today reported that several fighters from the canceled “Shine Fights: Worlds Collide” event had not been paid.

“Worlds Collide” was scheduled to take place May 15 at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, N.C., before the North Carolina Boxing Authority pulled the plug on the show hours after it was set to begin.

This week, George finally received his release from the contract, but he can’t help but slap his forehead about the deal with Bellator Fighting Championships he passed up to sign with the upstart promotion.

“It was a learning process,” he said. “It goes back to the pro wrestling days. You never entirely trust the promoter. It burned that back into me.”

George said the first sign of trouble was his May 15 opponent, or more accurately, his lack of opponent. The promotion went through five different names before arriving at Mario Stapel, a 16-13 fighter from the H.I.T. Squad. But the matchmaking delay meant he wouldn’t make the pay-per-view card, despite an agreement to do so. His bout would be the second of the night, which meant fewer sponsors.

Things went downhill fast on fight week. Despite a promise to be flown to the event site in Fayeteville, N.C., on the Monday of the show, George said he flew in late Thursday night on less than a day’s notice and arrived at midnight, only a handful of hours before weigh-ins later on Friday.

“We get there, and you know what happens with the whole show debacle,” he said.

The event rapidly fell apart with the absence of Shine CEO Devin Price, who was battling a Florida judge over an injunction that prevented boxer Ricardo Mayorga, half the card’s main draw, from fighting that night.

As the showtime drew closer, George said Shine matchmaker Ron Foster requested the fighters sign a new contract that included a flat-rate pay and also waived liability for the North Carolina Boxing Authority regarding the security of the purses.

“Before the show’s officially canceled, they tell us all we need to sign a contract clearing North Carolina of having responsibility (for the cancellation), and [Shine] would pay us later,” George said. “Not a single person signed it.”

Speaking to MMAjunkie.com, Shine Fights officials countered George’s recollection of those events and said that several – if not all – fighters were willing to sign off on the release. However, what happened next isn’t debated by anyone.

After refusing to sign the release, George said he went back to his locker room to relieve his stress with a workout. Moments later, he received word that the commission had stepped in and called off the event.

“The show was canceled over concerns [about] the fighters’ safety and well-being,” Terrance Merriweather, the superintendent of the North Carolina Boxing Authority, told MMAjunkie.com in the wake of the cancellation.

The remainder of the night was a sort of controlled chaos. “The Ultimate Fighter 6″ veteran Dorian Price, brother of Shine Fights CEO Devin Price, shoved the
promotion’s public relations director, Phil Lanides, later in the
evening.

George said he hadn’t heard from Shine since that night prior to today’s release, and he hasn’t seen a dime of the money that was promised to him.

“It’s been a horrible thing,” he said. “I’ve been telling them, ‘You’ve got to pay me, and you’ve got to release me.’ I can’t work with any of the bigger shows until I’m released.”

The fighter is now looking for his next fight and plans to contact Bellator.

“I got a little lackadaisical and trusted these guys,” he said. “There were tons of warning signs, and we still went along with it. I should have trusted my gut.”

Steven Marrocco is a staff reporter for MMAjunkie.com and an MMA contributor for The Vancouver Sun.

* * * *

Story updated on 7/15/10 at 8:05 p.m. ET to reflect that it was Foster, and not Dorian Price as was originally suggested by sources, who requested the fighters sign new contracts. Dorian Price also confirmed his confrontation with Lanides.

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